Get Ready, Get Set, Start

I have written on prior occasions of my love of mornings. Mornings are to me like the start of a new season, feeling that a whole period has passed (even if only a day) and that a new day has brought with it a new opportunity to draw courage and go again. It is this sense of courage one senses Diane Ackerman, author of a Slender Thread, must live with. Diane has for many years worked within the crisis- care environment, agonizing with men and women, young and old who are persuaded that life holds no hope, that the only resolution to their problems is if life as they know it ceased; a permanent solution to a temporary (regardless of the duration) problem.

While I have myself faced off with several such individuals in my life, I do not know what it must be like to confront that kind of void day in and day out and still maintain a sense of grace that creases your face with a warm smile. In our own way, each of us journeys through life aware of so many things in our world that need fixing and are often overwhelmed because of our immobility, afraid any initiative we take will come to nought, or on the other hand scared we might get so caught up our lives could be completely turned around.

Where would we be though if we did not start? People like Diane Ackerman and countless others I know start…every new day, they draw courage and start, because it’s the start that stops most people. So many societal ills are set right when someone, somewhere starts. We hear speakers wax lyrical about how we can develop momentum in our lives, but we fail to understand that momentum can only develop from what we start. This month, I am committing to begin each day anew, draw courage and start. Who knows what new dream, what new found hope might be discovered to share with our communities, our world!